Firefighter to plead guilty to sexual solicitation

A Montgomery County firefighter originally charged with soliciting sex from a minor will plead guilty to charges of sexual solicitation.

Wayne Mothershead was arrested July 20 by county police for allegedly seeking sex from an undercover officer posing as a 16-year-old on social networking Web site MySpace, as part of a police undercover operation. He was charged with sexual solicitation of a minor in District Court in Rockville.

According to court records, Mothershead, 44, of Taneytown, has not been charged with sexual solicitation of a minor in Montgomery County Circuit Court; only solicitation. Mothershead plans to plead guilty to the charge Oct. 5 in Circuit Court, his attorney, Rebecca Nitkin, said Monday.

Police have been unable to provide evidence that Mothershead thought the undercover officer was a minor, according to Nitkin.

Nitkin said Mothershead never accessed the MySpace page, which stated that the undercover officer was a 16-year-old girl, and that none of the other communications between Mothershead and the undercover officer, such as voicemails and text messages, reveal the supposed age of the officer.

Montgomery County States Attorney spokesman Seth Zucker said he could not comment on the case.

Nitkin said Mothershead contacted the undercover officer through an ad for prostitution on Craigslist on a county computer through his county e-mail address.

Police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said police obtained clear evidence that Mothershead believed the undercover officer to be a minor.

She declined to identify if police had recovered further evidence from a search warrant executed at Mothershead's home Aug. 14.

Prior to entering the plea Oct. 5, Mothershead must undergo a Sex Offender Evaluation. Under the proposed plea deal, if the evaluation's risk assessment deems him a low risk, the state would not to seek jail time for Mothershead. Sexual solicitation of a prostitute, a misdemeanor, carries a one-year maximum sentence, according to Maryland's sentencing guidelines.

Mothershead was placed on administrative leave from Montgomery County Fire and Rescue with pay after his arrest.

Police arrested at least 18 men as part of the sting, which began in March. The arrest was part of an undercover sting operation by police targeting the clients of prostitutes, the first such county operation to target "johns."